Gas-liquid separator



April 14, 1953 s. K. ANDERSEN ET AL 2,634,820

GAS-LIQUID SEPARATOR med Aug. 18, 1947 2 SHEETS- SHEET 1 5L, /N VENTO/Q5.

,5o/HN K. ANDERse/v RA Y/v/oNo W. JENSEN 6) THE/l? HTTORNE YS. HA R/e/s, K/ECH, FOSTER Hmm/s @Y April 14, 1953 `s. K. ANDERsEN ET AL 2,634,820

GAS-LIQUID SEPARATOR Filed Aug. 18, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 /N VENTORS. 50mi/v K. ANDE/esE/v RAYMOND W. 15A/EN 5V THE/l? ATTORNEYS.

fig' 9 HARR/SJOECH, FosTE/P HARK/s Patented Apr. 14, 1953 GAS-LIQUID SEPARATOR Soren K. Andersenl and Raymond W. Jensen', Los

Angeles, Calif., assignors to The Garrett Corporation,r Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application August 18, 1947, SeralfN'o.''769,272

1 Claim.- (Cl. 183-39) Our invention relates generally to apparatus for separating liquids from gases or gaseous uids and, more particularly, to an apparatus for removing particles of Water' or other liquids from gases such as air. Since the invention nds particular utility in air conditioning systems', such as those employed to` condition the air delivered to an aircraft' cabin, for example, we prefer to consider such an application of the invention herein. for' conveniencel in effecting a disclosure thereof. However, it Will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to air conditioningk systemsv since various other applications thereof are possible as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

When the ambient temperature is such that the temperature of'v the air delivered to an aircraft cabin or other chamber must be reduced, it is' customary to vrefrigerate at least a portion of the airsupplied to the cabin by compressing it so as to elevate its pressure and temperature substantia'lly above atmospheric, subsequently reducing. the temperature of the compressed air in a suitable heat exchanger which may utilize ambient air as the cooling medium, and thereafter expanding the compressed air to a pressurecommensurate with that desired in the cabin, the result of such expansion being to reduce the temperature ofthe air below the ambient temperature. The' expansion may take place in an air turbine', forv example, Which turbine is preferably connected to the compressor so that the Work done bythe air in expanding may be utilized to ofset at least lpartially the WorkV done upon the airrin compressing it.

Tf vthe temperature of; the air cooled by' expansion in the turbine or otherl device is reduced below the dewl point, which is' frequently the case,l some of the Water vapor in the air condenses to form exceedingly fine, discrete droplets which 'appear as a light fog in the air stream emanating from the turbine. Since the quantity of condensate formed in this manner is frequently excessive, it' may be necessary to remove at least a portion of this condensate from theair entering the cabin sov that better control of the humidity of the a-ir i-'n the cabin mayI be attained, this 'being desirable both from the standpoint of passenger comfort and from the standpoint of preventingv deterioration of the equipment and 'zrn-isl'iin'gs inthe cabin. 'In cases Where close humidity control might be desirable a humidistat may' bel'oca-ted Within the cabin or the duct leading? thereto order to control the mixing of a portion of" saturated air asit leaves the turbine with a portion of' the air from which the entrained Water 'has been removed. It is: also possible toy control the humidity by injecting a controlled spray of Water into the air before it enters the cabin. These methods of' humidity control are well. known in the air conditioning` art and form no part of thisiinvention.

We have found that known types of apparatus for: separating liquids from gases Will'. not remove the exceedingly' fine condensate droplets produced by expanding air in' thefforegoing manner to a satisfactory' degree and, accordingly, the provision of a separating apparatus Which will operate successfully on such fine droplets is` a primary object of the invention.

In general, an. apparatus embodying.A the-present invention includes coalescing. means for causing the condensate droplets the air stream emanating from the turbine or otherv expansion device to coalesce so as tov form relatively larger drops, and includes eliminating meanslocated downstream from the co'alescing means for collecting such larger drops. and for conveying'- same out of the' path of the air stream", an important object of the invention being to provide an' apparatus of this character having improved coalescing and eliminating means.

Another object is'to provide. a coal'escing means comprising a foraminous element', preferably formed' of a fibrous material, through which the expanded air is required to iloWy and which is adapted to collect the line condensate: droplets entrained therein and combine them into larger drops. We have found that ay coalescing element formed; of glass cloth is Well suited for this* purpose, although other fibrous materialsmay be employed if desired'.

An important object is to provide a coalescing element which presents a maximum of surface area on Which the condensate droplets may collect. It is a further object to provide such a coalescing element which consists of' a plurality of sheets of brous material connected' to form a plurality of elongated pockets into which the air bearing the condensate droplets is required to flow so that the fine condensate droplets will be forced', by'l the naturev of the element, to oombine with each other Within the interstices of the element and ultimately to be rejected from vthe element, by the velocity of` the air moving' therethrough, asl larger' dropletsv of water.

Still another objectof our invention is toprovide an eliminating means which comprises va plurality of generally vertical baiil'es or vanos-for collecting the Water entrained-in the air stream emanating from the coalescing means and for conveying such drops downwardly out of the path of the stream. An important object in this connection is to provide substantially V-shaped collecting vanes which have their apices directed upstream so that low pressure areas are created on the downstream sides thereof, whereby drops of water entrained in air flowing into such low pressure areas are carried into the vanes and are conveyed downwardly thereby out of the path l through the latter is interrupted for any reason, as by the formation of ice therein due to cooling of the air andthe condensate droplets entrained therein below 32 F. in thev expansion device. Thus, the by-pass means prevents a shut-down of, or damage to, the air conditioning system, which is an important feature of the invention.

The foregoing objects of our invention and the advantages suggested thereby, together with -various other objects and advantages which will l be evident hereinafter, may be realized through Ithe employment of the exemplary embodiment which is illustrated in the accompanying draw ings and which is described in detail hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings, which are intended as illustrative only:

Fig. 1 is a plan view on a reduced scale of an f apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the broken line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig.v 3 is a sectional view taken along the broken line 3-3 of Fig. 2 with a portion of a coalescing element forming part of the apparatus removed;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of Vthe coalescing element prior to installation in the apparatus;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary elevational view of the coalescing element and is takeny in the direction indicated by the arrow 5 in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional i view taken along the broken line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view which is taken along the broken line 1-1 of Fig. 2 and which illustrates an eliminating means forming part of the apparatus;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view which is taken along the broken line 8-8 of Fig. '7 and which illustrates collecting varies forming part of the eliminating means; and

Fig. 9 is a view showing a modified form of collecting vane.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the separating apparatus includes, in general, coalescing means I I for effecting coalescence of particles of liquid entrained in a stream of air or other gaseous fluid flowing therethrough so as to form relatively larger drops of the liquid, includes eliminating means I2 located down- .stream from the coalescing means for collecting such larger drops and conveying them down- Vvwardly out of the path of the stream, and includes by-pass means indicated generally by the numeral I3 for diverting vthe stream around the coalescing means li in the event that ow l'ns through the latter is prevented for any reason, as by the formation of ice therein, as will be discussed in more detail hereinafter. The coalescing means II, eliminating means I2 and by-pass means I3 are Lenclosed by a housing I4 which forms a conduit having an inlet end I5 and an outlet end I6, Iiow through the housing or conduit I4 being in the direction of the arrows I1 in Fig. 2. Assuming that the apparatus is to be used in connection with an air conditioning system as Vhereinbefore discussed, the conduit I4 may be connected at its inlet end to an inlet duct I8 leading from an air turbine or other expansion device, and may be connected at its outlet end to an outlet duct I3 leading to an aircraft cabin or other chamber which is to be supplied with conditioned air. The inlet and outlet ducts I8 and I3 may be connected to the conduit I4 through adapters 20 and 2l, respectively, which are attached to the conduit by clamping straps 22 adapted to provide a fluid-tight seal in a manner well known in the art.

Although the housing or conduit I4 maybe formed in one piece if desired, it is preferably formed in two sections 25 and 26 for convenience in manufacture, the two housing sections being attached Ato each other by a clamping strap 21 which is similar to the straps 22. The housing section 25 contains the coalescing means II and the by-pass means I3 and the housing section 26 contains the eliminating means I2, so that the apparatus is formed in two separate units which are detachably connected by the clamping strap 21, the coalescing means II, together with the by-pass means I3, forming one unit of the apparatus and the eliminating means I2 forming the other unit. As best shown in Figs. 3 and 7, the two units are of elliptical cross-section so they will t in the space available in certain types of aircraft, although it will be understood that these units may be of any cross-sectional shape without departing from the spirit of' the invention. if

Considering the separating apparatus in more detail with particular reference to Figs. 2 to 6 of the drawings, the coalescing means II includes a coalescing element 30 supported by partitions or separators 3| which are parallel to the axis of the housing section 25 and which are welded or otherwise secured thereto along their longitudinal edges, the separators, each of which is provided with a bead 32 along its upstream edge, being disposed in horizontal planes in the particular construction illustrated although it will be understood that they may be disposed in vertical or other planes if desired. It will be noted that the uppermost and lowermost of the separators 3| are spaced from the uppermost and lowermost portions of the housing section 25 to provide passages 33 and 34 through which the air stream may be diverted around the coalescing `means II as will be discussed in more detail hereinafter. l

The coalescing element 30 comprises a plurality of substantially U-shaped sheets 35 of fibrous material each having arms 36 and 31 and each being slipped over one of the separators V3| so that the arms thereof receive the separator therebetween, all as best shown in Fig. 2. The upper arm 36 of each of the U-shaped sheets 35 is stitched or otherwise connected to the lower arm 31 of the sheet thereabove in such a manner as to form therebetween a plurality of elongated, vfinger-like pockets 38 each of which isl substantially .parallel to the direction of flow through 4. to. 6, illustrate fragments of the coal'escing eieren-int.y V3l]` prior to; insertion in the housing section 25.. Asbest. shown in Eiga ofthe drawings, the upper arm 36-r` ofone. sheetmay be attached. to the lower arrn4 3:7 of the; adjacent .sheet-by rows of stitching along their longitudinal edges 41|' and their downstream edges; 4t2., and

.byalongitudir-ialrows. 43; ofstitehing intermediate the. longitudinal edges. 4L.

Afterl the sheets 35 have. beensewed. together in the manner described. tdform. the coalescing element. 3B, the .element may be. installedA the housing section by inserting, the intercon nected. arms 35 and 3l ot adjacent ones of the sheets. between adjacent ones of the separators 3l so that the coalescing element assumes the position shown in Fig. 2i. Despite the: fact :that the housing. section 25. isof elliptical. cross-section in the particular construction shown, the sheets 35 are preferably all of the same width; the differences between the width of the sheets and the widths: of the spaces between the separators 32I at-the upper and lowery ends of the elliptical housing section being taken care ofA by compressing the sheets inserted in such spaces laterallyr tov some. extent.v The coalescing element is secured in the housing section 25 by folding the upperv arm 36 of the uppermost tlf-shaped sheet around thev bead: 32 at the upstream edge of the uppermost separator 3L and then slipping a clipy 45 over this beadA as best shown in Fig. 2. Similarly, theA lower arm 3l of the. lowermost U- shaped sheet 35 is folded around the. bead. 32 along the upstream edge of' the lowermost: separator 3|' 'and' isA attached thereto by' a similar clip 46. Preferably, the upper arm of the uppermost sheet and the lower arm of the lowermost sheet are merely tabs of sufficient length to be folded around the beads of the corresponding separators 3|.

Considering the operation of the coalescing means H, as the air which has been cooled by expansion enters the apparatus, it flows into the elongated pockets 38 through the openings at the upstream ends thereof and then flows through the walls of the pockets and continues downstream toward the eliminating means I2. As will be apparent, some of the air may flow through the U-shaped sheets 35 at the upstream ends thereof without necessarily flowing into the pockets 38. The function of the sheets of fibrous material is to collect the ne water droplets entrained in the air flowing therethrough so that each of the droplets Will combine with others to form larger drops which may be removed from the air stream by the eliminating means I2. We have found that glass cloth is particularly well suited for this purpose, although other materials may be used without necessarily departing from the spirit of the invention.

After moisture laden air has passed through the coalescing element 30 for some time, the element becomes saturated with the moisture collected thereby so that the moisture begins to escape therefrom in the form of relatively larger drops which are carried downstream toward the eliminating means I2, the function of the eliminating means, which will now be described in.

detail, .being to collect these dropsand to convey them out ofthe air stream. Referring particu# 'larly to. Figsh 2, '7; and 8i, the means t2. comprises'v a pluralityl of.: rows of verticalf,.sub stantially' v'shaped collecting varies; 51]? their apices directed upstream,A the varies: alternate rowsv being. located miditrays between the vanes. in the rowsV theread arent so that vanes in@` each row: are stagg-eredi respect.. to:l those in adjacent rows. The collectingvanes` 50'extend fromv the: top. tothe bottom. of the: housingsection 2&1 and are: mounted. on lateral. rods 5I. which extend through the. vanes; and; which aree welded or otherwise. secured to the housing section,A the rods: .being enlarged between the arms or cach vane, as indicated. at 52, to: prevent lateral moneof theA vanes. along the rods.. Thacollectinguanes 50 shown. in Fig.. a areprovi'deiiv with inturned trailing edges 53,y although wemay employ .collecting vanesl withoutl such. inturned; edges, such a collecting vanebeing indicated. vby the numeral 5.11 in' Eiga 9i Considering the operation' of :the: eliminating' means |12., the-collectingivanes 50.- areA adaptedto collect the. drops of water entrained in. the ai'r leaving the: coaleseing meansl I I. in any one. of several ways; In theiirst place, it. will be` appar'- y ent: that. low' pressureareaswillbecreated within the'vanes iland on. the downstream sides there of asv the airis accelerated. in. flowing around' the vanes. Thus, some of' the: ain tends to'. flow into such' low pressure areas .and carries any drops of liquid en'trained. therein intol theinteriors of the varies so that such drops may flow' downwardly to the bottom ofthe housing section: 26. Secondly, some of the drops entrained in vtheair leaving the coalesci-ng means I'I willaimpi'ngafon the upstream faces. ofthe collecting vanes and, subsequently; will either around the trailing edges of. thefvanes. into. the; interiors thereof, or flow downwardly'l along the" upstream facesy of the vanes to the bottom of the housing section 26. As the water collected by the vanes 50 ilows downwardly into the bottom of the housing section 26, it may be removed therefrom through a drain line 55 which leads to some suitable point of discharge (not shown).

It will be understood that the collecting vanes 50 may be arranged in various manners depending upon the eiiiciency desired for the eliminating means. For example, the pressure drop through and the elclency of the eliminating means I2 may be varied by varying the spacing of the vanes 50 in the rows, by varying the widths of the vanes at their downstream ends, by varying the spacing and/or number -of rows, etc.

As indicated previously, the function of the by-pass means I3 is to divert the air stream around the coalescing means I I in the event that now through the latter is prevented by the formation of ice therein, for example. Ice may form in the coaleseing means II if the air is cooled to a temperature substantially below 32 F. during lexpansion, which may occur occasionally under operating lconditions encountered by air condition-systems installed in aircraft. For example, in order to maintain the air in the cabin of an airplane at a comfortable temperature while the airplane is awaiting clearance for take-on on an unusually hot day, it may be necessary to cool the air supplied to the cabin to a much greater extent than would normally be the case and, if such conditions obtain for an extended period of time, suicient ice may form in the coalescing means II to prevent ow therethrough. The

the coalescing means Il when such conditions obtain so as to prevent damage to the air conditioning system and so as 'to provide an uninter- -rupted supply of cooled air to the cabin. It Will be noted that although the humidity of the air supplied to the cabin under such circumstances may be higher than desirable, this is but a temporary condition.

Referring particularly -t-o Fig. 2, the by-pass means I3 comprises a pair of flap valves 58 and 59 in the particular construction illustrated, these valves being disposed in the passages 33 and 34, respectively, adjacent the coalescing means Il and being hingedly connected to two of the separators 3l forming part of the coalescing means. The valves 58 and 59 are normally held closed by a spring B attached to arms 6| and 52 on the respective valves, the spring being adapted to expand to permit the valves to open in the event that the air pressure upstream from the coa- Vlescing means l I increases due to the presence of ice or other obstructions in the coalescing means.

-It will be understood that although the -valves 58 and 59 are adapted to open in response to an lincreased pressure upstream from the coalescing means Il, the valves may be controlled by a thermostat or other suitable device if desired.

Although we have disclosed an exemplary embodiment of our invention herein and have considered this embodiment in connection with a speciiic applicationV of the invention, it will be understood that we do not intend to be limited specifically thereto since the invention is susceptible to other applications and since various changes, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in the exemplary embodiment disclosed, all without necessarily departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, we hereby reserve the right to the protection afforded by the ful] scope of the appended claim.

We claim as our invention: In apparatus for removing particles of liquid entrained in a stream of gaseous uid: a conduit ior the stream of gaseous fluid, said conduit including inlet and outlet ends in substantial alignment and an enlarged portion between said ends; coalescing means within said enlarged portion of the conduit, said coalescing means comprising a body of brous material between said inlet and outlet and in the main line of iiuid flow through said conduit from said inlet to said outlet, there being a by-pass space in said enlarged portion of the conduit between the body of fibrous material and the adjacent Vwall of said conduit and outside said main line of iiuid flow; and pressure responsive by-pass valve means in said bypass space biased in the closing direction and openable by uid pressure at the inlet side of the coalescing means when said pressure rises above a predetermined value.

SOREN K. ANDERSEN. RAYMOND W. JENSEN.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 494,264 Seymour, Jr Mar. 28, 1893 1,708,065 Jordahl et al. Apr. 9, 1929 1,830,096 Dollinger Nov. 3, 1931 1,864,201 Kegerreis et al. June 21, 1932 1,953,156 Dahlman Apr. 3, 1934 2,130,107 Somers Sept. 13, 1938 2,410,371 Vches Oct. 29, 1946 2,465,430 Burke Mar. 29, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,630 Great Britain Apr. 20, 1911 380,441 Germany Sept. 7, 1923 27,062 Switzerland Aug. 8, 1902 

